Just about two weeks ago, we entered as a Church into the Year of St. Joseph. It is the Holy Father’s prerogative to choose to dedicate a year to a saint, but it was God the Father who chose this carpenter from Nazareth to be Mary’s husband and Jesus’ father. In these weeks leading up to Christmas, I’ve been meditating on the Gospel passages that tell this story. I’ve been stunned by those whom God chooses (carpenters, young girls, shepherds, etc.).
I imagined myself in the place of Joseph. After a tiring journey, he and Mary arrived in bustling Bethlehem, too late to find an affordable place to stay. Joseph’s responsibility weighed heavily on him, and was saddened that the innkeeper was not more considerate of his wife. I had the sense that his preoccupation with these worries made him momentarily forget what was happening—God was coming. When they found themselves in the cave and it became clear that Mary would deliver soon, it was she who had to reassure Joseph: “The angel told me not to be afraid!”
Just before Jesus’ head emerged, Joseph was overcome by the full reality of what was happening. Of all the places and to all the people He could have come, He was coming here, in this very stable, into his own trembling hands. I felt an indescribable joy that God would see Joseph, choose him, and entrust to him this task of being the one to “catch” God! I knew this joy had something to do with me. I knew that I also felt seen, chosen, and entrusted with Jesus’ presence.
Then, there were the shepherds. I stood in the fields with them, watching the stars a little more than the sheep. As I read the familiar words, I was flabbergasted like I’ve never been before: “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them …” Of all the places and to all the people the angels could have been sent, they came here to this flock and these shepherds. The angels delivered their message of “great joy”, and I felt certain that this great joy was particular to each. It was not a grand, generic joy, but the answer to each individual heart’s desire, including my own.
As the shepherds recovered from shock and gathered their wits, they spoke together, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” With them, I felt wonder and joy that God would want to speak to me, reveal His secrets to me, and surround me with His glory. He is deeply interested in me, just like He was in the shepherds that night.
Through these times of prayer, I realized that God’s choice to reveal His face in Jesus in a particular time and place and to particular people means that forever He can reveal Himself to each of us—to me—in His humanity. Jesus’ Incarnation means that God’s choice expands from His special people and nation, Israel, to every human person in every time and place.
When I first heard of the new show about the public ministry of Jesus, The Chosen, I assumed its title referred to Jesus, the Chosen One. I was pleasantly surprised when, upon watching each episode, I quickly realized that, instead, the title referred to the disciples of Jesus. Each has his or her own encounter with Jesus, when He makes it clear that He wants each of them. He chooses Mary Magdalene, Matthew, and Simon, not just to perform a mission or a function, but to be His. In each of their stories, I saw my own story and the many years that Jesus has told me, over and over, that He chooses me.
If I make a mistake, I think that He’ll stop choosing me. I’m so much less like immaculate Mary and so much more like ordinary Joseph—tired, trembling, unsure. But He has made it clear: He delights to choose the smallest and weakest and so nothing stops Him from choosing me.
Adoration of the Shepherds by Guido Reni
-Sr. Mary Gemma Harris, T.O.R.
